"Are you alright?" Penelope questioned Michael with a soft voice, watching his expression carefully as it changed from happy to afraid to sad and then to confused. 

For several moments now, he had been staring off into the forest but his gaze was unfocused as if he were seeing something far off that she could not see. His eyes had lost their curious spark and were now glossy as if he were holding back tears.

He blinked a couple of times before turning to her. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

'It would seem,' she mused thoughtfully, turning her gaze back to the night sky. 'That I'm not the only one with a painful past.' "I simply asked if you were alright."

He smiled but even he could tell that it was a sad one. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he sat up straighter and cleared his throat. "I apologize for spacing out. Will you tell me what happened next? When Princess Ayla visited Prince Burrito."

She hummed, remaining silent for a moment before answering him in a soft tone. "It did not go well for Taco's mother, but for Ayla, it was a day that she would never forget."

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"Welcome to Ritorian Kingdom, my ladies." Alfred, one of Rito's closest attendants, bowed at the waist with his arm across his chest. "His highness is awaiting you both in the library. If you would please follow me."

Queen Rita straightened her back, putting on an expression of pride befitting a queen but her hands shook lightly at her sides, showing off how nervous she truly was. Ayla frowned at this, slipping her hand into the queen's and offering her a comforting smile. It did the trick, just as it always had, and Rita returned the smile, giving her future daughter's hand a gentle squeeze of appreciation.

Truth be told, Rita didn't feel at all comfortable meeting with King Rito without her husband present. Something about the older king just really put her on edge, but keeping a good relationship between the two kingdoms is especially important and, as queen, such tasks fell upon her shoulders when her husband was otherwise occupied. Still, she couldn't shake off the bad feeling that had settled in the pit of her stomach.

Ayla, on the other hand, was filled with nervous excitement and kept running her free hand over her braided hair, done by her own mother that very morning. She had even donned her prettiest dress in hopes that it would appeal to the prince.

Alfred led the pair to a set of large double doors that swung open without a sound. The King was standing at the back of the room, his back against a large bookshelf sitting to the right, whispering to his son who hung onto his father's every word.

The room itself was quite large, shaped like a perfect square with a ceiling that towered above them. In the center of the room sat a long wooden table beneath a skylight made of stained glass. Dozens of tall bookshelves sat in rows on either side of the room, each filled with books of varying thicknesses, heights, and genres. At the back of the room, sitting atop a small platform, was a dark oak desk, belonging to the king himself.

"I apologize for interrupting, my lord," said Alfred as his body folded in half, his arm over his chest. "As ordered, I have brought Queen Rita and Princess Ayla directly to you."

Rito's beady eyes slid over to them, a greasy smile upon his lips as he swayed over to them. "Welcome to Rito Kingdom! I do so hope you had a safe trip here."

Rita's lips twitched downward but she forced a smile to hide her discomfort. "It was, thank you very much. May I inquire as to the reason you've called upon me here?"

His eyes flickered to the young girl whose attention had not strayed from his son. He hadn't invited her, but perhaps this could work in his favor. He turned halfway toward his son, waving his hand in the air. "Burrito, why don't you take little Ayla on a tour of our castle? The adults need to talk alone."

Though he had no desire to do so, the young prince would never express his dislike towards an order given by his father. Instead, he put on his most charming smile, addressing his father and then the princess. "Of course, father. Come, I will you show my favorite spots."

Ayla's heart fluttered when he held out his arm to her and she hoped he would not feel her trembling as she slipped her arm through his, allowing him to guide her from the room.

Rita's eyes followed the pair, her heart squeezing with anxiety. She did not feel comfortable being alone with this foul man but she worried even more about the child being alone with his spawn. How badly she wanted to speak up, to tell them no and keep the girl at her side, not only for her own protection but for Rita's, as well. 

How happy the young girl looked, though! She had been so excited to join Rita on this trip, what right did she had to take that from her?

Finally, the double doors closed, leaving the queen alone with the king.

Rito grabbed her elbow, his spindly fingers digging into her skin through the lace sleeves of her dress. He was careful to keep his long, dirty nails from ripping the fabric as he led her to the table. "Come, sit poppet. Let's discuss business, hm?"

She reluctantly took the seat offered to her, not surprised when he took the seat beside her, scooting the chair as close to hers as possible. "Yes, let's. I have an important guest coming to see me in an hour."

He frowned at this, leaning so close to her that she could smell his rancid breath, like rotting fish under the summer sun. It turned her stomach, but she did not move away. "Am I not important to you, Rita? I am a king. Who is more important than I?" The words were whispered, but she could hear the anger lingering just beneath the surface.

She took a shaky breath. "Forgive me, for I have misspoken. I meant to say that I have another important guest to see."

"A king?"

"Pardon?"

"Is he a king?" he pressed, moving closer still, his nose brushing hers as a wild look shimmered within his dark eyes.

She couldn't bring herself to meet the man's gaze so she chose to stare at his forehead, shimmering with grease beneath the candlelight. His hair was also filled with grease, falling to his shoulders in waves and as black as a crow's feathers. 

She found herself thinking what a shame it was that he did not take care of himself. By all means, he might be considered an attractive man if he did so, but even then, she knew, he would still be a vile man on the inside.

"Answer me!" he snapped suddenly, slamming his fist onto the table.

The sudden loud noise made her flinch, violet eyes jumping to meet his own. "No... no, she is neither king nor queen, but she is dear to my heart and that makes her important."

"Am I not important to you?" he whispered with fury as he gripped her chin tightly. "Am I not dear to you, Rita?"

"You are..." she hesitated before forcing a smile, "A dear friend to Taco and I."

The mention of her husband made him jump up in a rage, the chair falling back onto the floor, the sound muffled by the rug beneath them. "Why must you always mention him?" he began to rant, pacing back and forth and gesticulating wildly with his hands. "Can we not just spend time together, just you and I? Forget he exists for one moment!"

"He is my husband," she huffed, pulling herself to her feet. "You may pretend he does not exist if you so wish, but I will do such thing. If you'll excuse me." She turned on her heel and started toward the doors but he grabbed her shoulder, roughly spinning her back around.

"We are not finished here," he growled, gripping her shoulder tighter to hold her in place. "We haven't even begun, my dear Rita. Don't you find it funny? There is only one letter that separates our names. We were clearly made for one another! Why can't you see that?"

Rita was astonished. Deep down, she had always known that the king had feelings for her or, at the very least, wanted her as his own, but hearing it stated aloud left her speechless. Even as a king, how could he possibly be so bold as to say such things to a married woman? One whom Tico himself considered to be a friend, no less.

"We could do so much more if we were together. With you in charge of Tico's kingdom and I in charge of my own, we could rule everything. The world would be ours!" he grinned widely, showing off his teeth which were in the beginning stages of rot and decay. "Why, Rita? Why can you not see the big picture here?"

Disgust and fear swirled in her gut as she tried to pull her shoulder free of his grip but it only tightened more, his nails digging into her skin. "Release me at once," she ordered, but the shaking of her voice was quite obvious, even to her.

Rito's grip slowly faded, the childlike excitement dying from his eyes. "It's because of him, isn't it? Everything is his fault! That damned Tico..." He finally released his grip, turning his back to her. "The great and merciful King Tico! What bullshit. Everyone treats him as if he is some kind of god, like he can do no wrong, but they don't know him as I do! They don't know him at all. They don't know what he's capable of!"

Rita knew that she should try and leave. These were clearly just the ramblings of a mad man, but something inside of her made her stay put. Just what did he claim to know about her beloved husband? There were no secrets between them and she could think of only one incident that could cause true trouble for him should it get out. How could this man possibly know about it, though?

"Tell me," she demanded softly.

He finally stopped pacing, his back straighter than she had ever seen it. He did not turn around to look at her, he simply asked, "Why?"

"As his wife," she started, unsure if she could fool him. "I deserve to know if my husband has done something... undesirable."

He stood stock-still for several moments as her words bounced about in his brain. This was his chance, wasn't it? He came to realize that this was the chance he needed in order to drive a wedge between the happy couple. 

'She doesn't know!' He nearly giggled at the thought, his shoulders shaking. 'But she will. Oh, will she ever!' He slowly turned around, a toothy grin on his face as he motioned toward the table. "Have a seat, poppet. I have quite a tale for you." 

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 Ayla's heart hammered so loudly within her breast that she was sure Burrito could hear it, but he made no indication toward this if that were true. She glanced up at him and felt her face growing warm as she took in his appearance. 'He's so beautiful...' 

And he was, with his black hair just shy of his shoulders, curls so tight they could not be tamed. A single, tightly wound curl hung just beneath his right eyebrow. No matter how many times he brushed it away, it would always resume its rightful place.

His eyes flickered to hers, the movement making the curl sway slightly. "Is something the matter?"

"N-No," she cursed herself for stuttering. "Nothing at all. Why do you ask?"

"You've been staring at me since we left the library," he chuckled, offering her a bright smile that showed off his perfect, white teeth.

"Sorry!" She immediately dropped her gaze to the stone floor of the outer walkway, feeling embarrassed at being caught. "It's a bad habit of mine."

"No need to apologize. I'm quite used to being stared at by cute girls." He laughed, running his hand through his hair, the curls springing back into place.

She didn't doubt his words at all because, to her, he was the most beautiful man in all of the lands. Then it struck her like a train, her body and mind freezing up. 'Did he just... he called me cute! Oh, my cheesus!'

Burrito was pulled back when she suddenly stopped walking and he pulled his arm free, happy to no longer be touching her. He waved his hand in front of her face but she did not respond. It was as if she had turned into a stone statue. He blew a puff of air from his lips in annoyance.

Melodic laughter reached his ears and he snapped his eyes toward the courtyard on the left side of the outer walkway where a group of five girls was sitting upon stone benches, braiding each other's hair and laughing. Oh, how badly he wanted to approach them, to turn on his charm and lead the royal girls away from the help's peasant girls. Why were they even intermingling in the first place? The thought frustrated him.

'The hierarchy exists for a reason. Why can they not understand that?' He huffed again, hand resting on his hip. 'Peasants do not have the right to interact with us royalty.' He held back his groan of annoyance, instead choosing to gently clear his throat. "Princess Ayla?"

She snapped out of her reverie, wide-eyed and red-faced. "I-I'm so sorry, I spaced out!"

He adopted his most charming smile, knowing it could hide his annoyance no matter how deep it ran. "Don't fret, it happens to us all sometimes. Are you hungry? The kitchens are not far off from here."

The mere thought of eating in front of him evoked a surge of anxiety through her so she quickly shook her head. "We had a large breakfast before we left this morning, but thank you for the offer."

His smile faltered at her refusal. He had hoped he could pawn her off on the kitchen staff after making up an excuse that he was needed elsewhere, but with her refusal, another idea quickly struck him. "How about the observatory, then?

One of the two peasants that worked within the observatory was a young man, only a couple of years older than himself. While he was no match for Burrito in looks, that much he was sure of, the prince hoped that the boy's intelligence could capture the princess's attention long enough for him to escape.

Ayla's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Can stars be seen at this time of day?"

He had no knowledge on the subject and had no idea if they could or could not be seen in the middle of the day, but lack of information had never stopped him before and it wouldn't stop him now. "Of course, they can!"

His confidence swayed her and she believed him fully, offering up a bright smile. "That's so interesting, I never knew. I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too," he replied with a smile, but it dropped as soon as his back was to her. 'Being a prince can be so hard sometimes, but this is father's will. I must smile and bear it, just as mother once taught me.'